Local Area Coordinator

The Local Area Coordinator Project aims to support families, children and young people (0-24) with a disability in Longford and Westmeath.

In early 2016, Longford County Childcare Committee and Westmeath County Childcare Committee were successfully granted funding from the Dormant Accounts Fund (DAF) for Local Area Co-ordination of Disability Services. This project was one of seven funded under measure 5 of the DAF nationally and it was an 18 month project until June 2017.

The aim of the LAC Project was to ensure children and young people (0-24) with additional needs in Westmeath and Longford have access, participation and seamless transitions across a range of service providers. This project had a Local Area Coordinator identifying both national and local services and supports available for Families, Children and Young People aged 0-24 years with disabilities in Longford and Westmeath. It was to support both families and services through:

Families

Support parents to access information regarding services and supports through the directory of services.

Supporting parents and young people with additional needs to make smooth transitions from home to Early Years settings, National and Secondary Schools, Youth Groups and Higher Education.

Services

Support these services in providing for and embedding an inclusive culture for children and young people with additional needs.

It was also to empower these settings to create changes as required to meet the learning and developmental needs of the young person with additional needs.

The Project has developed a Directory of Services which is available on our resources page for downloading, or simply click here, alternatively a hardcopy is available in our office. The Directory of services highlights many topics including early childhood development and immunisations, disability types, information on disability allowances, educational information and much more.

The Local Area Coordination Project strives to continuously link and support families by signposting services available for children and young people with disabilities in Longford and Westmeath. We aim to promote the overall development and enabling improvements in social, emotional and cognitive well being of children and young people with additional needs.

If you work with or are a parent/guardian for a child or a young person aged 0-24 years with an additional need, they can be referred to us and we will provide support in sourcing an appropriate service to meet the additional need.